Wake Forest & Northeast Community Coalition win 2022 APA-NC Marvin Collins Award

The Town of Wake Forest and the Northeast Community Coalition (NECC) are the recipients of the 2022 NC Chapter of the American Planning Association’s Marvin Collins Award in the category of Advancing Equity. The category recognizes a project or program that meaningfully involve historically underrepresented groups, positively impacts quality of life for low-or moderate income individuals, and/or achieves planning objectives that address structural inequities.

The Town and the NECC were honored for their efforts to bring representation and equity to previously marginalized groups within Wake Forest, specifically the Northeast Community.

A predominately African American neighborhood, the Northeast Community has been historically underrepresented in past community planning and historic preservation efforts. To ensure the voices of Northeast Community residents are heard and recognized as a central pillar to the future of Wake Forest, the Town and the NECC worked together to introduce several initiatives and projects focused on solidifying equity for this area.

The partnership ultimately led to the successful fulfilment of several important initiatives, including the 2021 Northeast Community Plan, which firmly established a clear vision for the community’s future, along with myriad calls for action centered around equity, history, and quality of life.

Several other projects are also underway either in or related to the Northeast Community, including a housing rehabilitation program focused on ensuring lower-income individuals can safely remain in their homes; rehabilitation of the Ailey Young House, a circa 1875 African American resource; the Northeast Community Story Map, which documents the cultural landscape of the neighborhood using GIS; a historic marker program; a historic walking tour series; and a housing affordability plan.

According to Senior Planner – Historic Preservation Michelle Michael, the collaboration between the Town and the NECC has been critical to these successes.

“The partnership between the Town and the Northeast Community Coalition is core to our engagement strategy,” said Michael.

“In past planning efforts, some of our residents in the African American community felt left behind and perceived much of the public outreach conducted by the Town as a one-way conversation. In 2007, the Town began nurturing a partnership with the NECC to reestablish lines of communication that had been soured by mistrust. Over the last two decades, Town representatives and members of the NECC have worked side-by-side to engage residents and make certain their voices are heard.”

The NC Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA-NC) is an association of 1,400 professional and citizen planners working to preserve and create great places throughout North Carolina. The APA-NC Marvin Collins Planning Awards program annually recognizes agencies and individuals that have completed outstanding plans, programs, and projects; have excelled as planning students; or have made notable contributions to the planning profession. The awards signify the highest standards of achievement for planning in North Carolina and highlight work that is worthy of attention.

The Awards Program is named in honor of the late Marvin Collins, a former Planning Director for Orange County, North Carolina, who developed the idea for the program in 1975. He received a Professional Achievement Award from the APA-NC just prior to his death in 1998. For the 25th anniversary of the awards program, the APA-NC Executive Committee recognized Marvin’s service to the chapter by adding his name to the awards program. For more information, email Michelle Michael at [email protected].